CLOVIS  Ever since the 3,200-meter run was added to the state track and field championships in 1965, only seven runners have been able to capture the difficult 1,600-3,200 double.

Make that eight.

La Costa Canyon’s Darren Fahy used almost identical tactics to sweep the two races Saturday at Buchanan High, outsprinting the field in the shorter race to win at 4:08.78, becoming the 11th San Diego Section runner to cross the line first in the 1,600.

Two hours later he was back on the track against the best metric 2-milers in the state, most of whom had not run earlier in the day and were still fresh. But none was faster than Fahy, who moved with 250 meters remaining to pull away for the rare double, clocking a 9:03.29.

“It played out perfectly for me,” said the Georgetown-bound senior. “It wasn’t very fast, but if someone had set a quick pace, they would have broken me. I slowly moved up and when Danny (Martinez of Bellflower St. John Bosco) made his move with 1,000 meters left, I was still feeling great.”

Fahy went with Martinez and on the penultimate straightaway finally was able to pass him. Often that effort takes so much out of runners, they are unable to mount still another burst.

Instead, Fahy exploded into an ever-widening lead that when he glanced back with 100 meters remaining, he was able to relax and enjoy the wave of applause that washed over him.

It was a similar tactic that handed him the 1,600-meter title.

“I was kind of hesitant to take the lead because I didn’t want to get outkicked,” said Fahy. “But I didn’t want to wait until the final 200 meters, either.”

So he shifted gears with 500 meters to go and still held off another challenge with about 100 meters to go.

“It’s very exciting to win,” Fahy said after running off the field with a gold-medal smile.